David Knopfler formed Dire Straits in 1977 with his brother Mark Knopfler and quit the band in 1980, shortly after the band finished recording the album Making Movies and five years before Brothers in Arms became a surprise international smash that made them one of the biggest musical success stories of the decade. It's tempting to say David Knopfler didn't make an especially good career decision by leaving Dire Straits, but a cursory look at his solo work makes it clear he wouldn't have been a good fit for what the band became. David Knopfler's songwriting style is more lushly romantic than that of his big brother, he's more interested in slick pop production, and there's a heart-on-the-sleeve quality to his tunes that's a bit too intimate to play well in big arenas. While David Knopfler released ten solo albums between 1983 and 2006, many were on small labels that either didn't have strong distribution in North America or didn't appear in the United States at all, so The Anthology: 1983-2008 offers a concise but well-chosen overview of his music, including a number of songs that may not be familiar to U.S. fans.

One of the very best '60s garage compilations, a high compliment given the thousands of competitors, and the very best Texas '60s garage anthology. With the possible exception of California, Texas was home to more fine obscure garage records than any other state, and these 14 cuts are among the finest. Roy Head delivers a fine Johnny Winter tune, "Easy Lovin' Girl," and Winter himself sings a prime slice of folk-rock-acid-punk, "Birds Can't Row Boats" (this version, incidentally, is much better than the one found on the early Winter compilation of the same name). The other names are totally obscure, and some of the tracks weren't even released until the 1980s. But the Things and the Bad Rhoads come through with fine pop-punk numbers, and A-440's "Torture," Satori's "Time Machine," and the Pandas' "Walk" have been belatedly recognized as some of the best garage psychedelia ever, combining sharp melodic hooks and songwriting with out-and-out dementia.

The Psychedelic Sounds of The 13th Floor Elevators was the shot heard 'round the psychedelic world, but the band's second LP (even though it didn't yield any pop hits and even though the band was starting to fray at the edges) was their masterpiece. This deluxe edition adds the original stereo version to the original mono album, all re-mastered and expanded with a bonus cut! Their trippy take on It's All Over Now, Baby Blue joins the raging rockers I've Got Levitation and She Lives (in a Time of Her Own) plus Dust; Earthquake; Slide Machine, and more.

The iconic drummer, Steve Gadd releases his band's 5th project: At Blue Note Tokyo. This album follows their 2018 Grammy win of Best Contempory / Instrumental Album for the eponymous album Steve Gadd Band. At Blue Note Tokyo was recorded live at this legendary club in December of 2018. Regular band members, Walt Fowler (Flugelhorn/Trumpet), Kevin Hays (Piano/Keys) and Jimmy Johnson (Bass) are joined by an old friend and renown guitarist, David Spinozza. The album highlights live versions of tunes from previous albums. It features a couple of new tunes penned by Spinozza and two tracks with soulful vocals by Hays. At Blue Note Tokyo captures the unique appeal of this venue and reflects the special relationship Steve Gadd has had with this club over the many years.

The Doors had one of the most extraordinary debut years in music history in 1967, releasing a string of hit singles and two platinum albums, beginning in January with the band’s self-titled debut, followed by Strange Days in September. The latter peaked at #3 on the Billboard album chart and featured classics like “Love Me Two Times,” “When The Music’s Over,” and the title track “Strange Days.”

The Doors fifth studio album, Morrison Hotel, will be reissued in October for its 50th anniversary. The album was recorded in late 1969/early 1970 and released in February 1970. It’s newly remastered for this release by Bruce Botnick. The goodies are all on the bonus CD with more than an hour of unreleased recordings taken from the sessions for Morrison Hotel. Botnick says: “There are many takes, different arrangements, false starts, and insightful studio conversations between the band – who were in the studio – and producer Paul Rothchild – who was in the control room. It’s like being a fly on the wall.” The outtakes include rough versions of Morrison Hotel tracks ‘Peace Frog’ and ‘Blue Sunday’ as well as The Doors rarity ‘I Will Never Be Untrue.’ The bonus CD also features the band jamming on cover versions of the Motown classic ‘Money (That’s What I Want)’ and B.B. King’s’ ‘Rock Me’.

CD1: 1-2 Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, 15th march 1967; 3 CBC TV Studio, Toronto, 14th September 1967; 4-5 CBS TV Studios, LA (Ed Sullivan Show) 17th September 1967; 6-7 CBS TV Studio (Jonathan Winters Show) 27th December 1967; 8-9 Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, 4th December 1968; 10-15 Critique TV Show, recorded 28th April 1968; CD2: Konserthuset, Stockholm, Sweden 20th September 1968; CD3: Cobo Arena, ~Detroit, 8th May 1970, FM Radio Broadcast; CD4: Center Coliseum, Seattle, 5th June 1970, FM Radio Broadcast; CD5: PNE Coliseum Vancouver, 6th June 1970, FM Radio Broadcast 4th July 1992; CD6: Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, 21th July 1972, FM Radio Broadcast.

The Doors found their mojo (and Mr. Mojo Risin’) in November 1970 as they recorded L.A. Woman over six days at the Workshop, the band’s rehearsal space on Santa Monica Boulevard. A success both critically and commercially, the album was certified double-platinum and contains some of the band’s most enduring music, including the Top 20 hit “Love Her Madly,” “Riders On The Storm,” and the title track.

Come On Over is the third album by Canadian singer Shania Twain (born 1965). With approximately 100 million records sold, she is the most successful artist in the history of country music. Come On Over was also made with the significant contribution of her then-husband and collaborator, producer-composer Robert John "Mutt" Lange.

It's quite easy to place Roberta Flack near the top of the pile of singer/songwriters who changed the course of pop music, not only soul music, during the '70s. She was fortunate enough to deliver the velvet-smooth ballad "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" to an unsuspecting public, and followed it up with an onslaught of ballads that would keep her on the charts for the remainder of the decade. From start to finish, this greatest-hits compilation is the most comprehensive look at her finest moments available on record. From her legendary string of duets with Donny Hathaway to her duets with Peabo Bryson and Maxi Priest that kept her at the top of the charts through the '80s, they're all here.

Schubert set the poetry of over 115 writers to music. He selected poems from classical Greece, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, from eighteenth-century German authors, early Romantics, Biedermeier poets, and Heine. The Deutsche Schubert-Lied-Edition presents all Schubert’s Lieder, over 700 songs, grouped according to the poets who inspired him. Thanks to the Bärenreiter’s Neue Schubert-Ausgabe (New Schubert Edition), Tübingen, which uses primary sources, the performers have been able to benefit from the most recent research of the editorial team.

As director of Musica Antiqua Koln, Reinhard Goebel was constantly on the lookout for musical treasures from the Baroque. In Dresden and Leipzig after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Goebel secured access to original manuscripts which allowed him and his Musica Antiqua Koln to record some of the most insightful Bach albums in DG's history. This 13CD box presents Goebel's finest J.S. Bach recordings for DG including The Brandenburg Concertos, Orchestral Suites and Chamber Works.

Liszt’s sonata is regarded by many as his ultimate masterpiece and it ranks alongside other “greats” in the pantheon of piano repertoire. This was not always the case, however, and in the 19th century it was met with extreme reactions, from admiration to suspicion and envy. The critic Eduard Hanslick declared “Anyone who has heard this and finds it beautiful is beyond help”, while Wagner heaped praised upon it (perhaps unsurprisingly). Alfred Brendel has called it “the most original, powerful and intelligent sonata composed after Beethoven and Schubert”.

Violinist Daniel Lozakovich was already a veteran at 18, having made his debut at age nine and signed to Deutsche Grammophon at 15. It may seem that each year brings a prodigal new violinist, but Lozakovich, a charismatic soul who boxes on the side, bow hand be damned, is one of the best. His Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35, is muscular and unafraid of a little gravel in the tone. Sample his finale, a broad, arch-Russian thing where he is ideally backed by his mentor, Vladimir Spivakov, leading the new National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia. Lozakovich grabs your attention from the start but never overplays the transitions.